Ron Is Not Mocked

A fifteen-year-old may be prosecuted for displaying words on a placard during a peaceful demonstration. The words were "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult"; admittedly, this begs the question of the Hubbard cult's essential difference from the Jesus cult, the Virgin cult, the Curia cult, the Muhammad cult and various others, but it hardly seems good reason for prosecuting somebody. However, section five of the Public Order Act prohibits "representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting" and the City of London police, who carried out the public order protectivity in the case, have rather good reasons for coming down hard on those who offend the Scientologists' itsy-bitsy feelings.